Friday, November 07, 2008

Wincanton tomorrow

There's a decent card tomorrow at Wincanton tomorrow where the going is described as soft. The highlight is the Elite at 2.50 in which champion hurdler Katchit attempts to give a stone and upwards to all his rivals. It's a big ask - I'm not sure the champion has reached peak fitness yet. The two I'm interested in are Takeroc and Chomba Womba; I think I'll be bold and take a chance with Nicky Henderson's mare Chomba Womba as she offers better value and the stable are in great form.

In the Grade 2 Novices' Chase at 2.20 I prefer Ring The Boss to likely favourite Breedsbreeze.

Several of the five day entries for the Badger Ales Trophy at 3.25 have elected to run in the 3.35 at Sandown instead. In a competitive event, I'm drawn to horses at the lower end of the handicap, especially given the testing conditions. Island Flyer has been well tipped up and will be popular but I prefer a little each way on an outsider in this; I considered Aztec Warrior but the stable form is off-putting so I'll take a flyer on Ardaghey (16/1) who likes racing right-handed on soft ground. His first run of the season wasn't encouraging so I'm more hopeful than confident.

Nicky Henderson's Hora has been raised a stiff-looking eighteen pounds after her last win but is still likely to start favourite for the mares' handicap hurdle. I'm interested in Creswell Ruby even though she's racing off a mark five pounds out of the handicap. Five pound claimer Charlie Huxley helps the cause; I'll consider an each-way punt at around the 10/1 mark.

Over at Sandown Indian Groom (1.55) will be no price whatsoever but should be watched as his defeat of Black Jacari at Market Rasen six weeks ago came as something of a shock to the stable who thought their charge needed another four weeks' work. Connections have let more competitive opportunities pass by in the interim so he will be expected to take this on the way to better things.

There's a guaranteed £1 million up for grabs in this week's Scoop 6 - all you have to do is pick the winner of five races at Doncaster (including the November handicap) and the Badger Ales Trophy at Wincanton. I wish you the very best of luck!

1 comment:

Chomba Womba, 100/30 and 7/2 in places at one point, was sent off 11/4 third favourite but the mare ran her rivals into the ground with a most impressive display. Over three lengths separated her from Takeroc (13/8f) at the line but Barry Geraghty had eased her down considerably. It will be interesting to see what connections decide to do. Choc Thornton was pushing at Katchit (2/1) from some way out; the chmapion stayed on to finish third. Channel Four commentator Nick Luck thought Katchit was rather laboured but trainer Alan King was more upbeat saying the plan had been to use this as a stepping stone to the Boylesports at Cheltenham early next month.They went no pace early in the novice chase which Breedsbreeze (4/6f) won most convincingly. Having said that, Ring The Boss (7/2) threw down a determined challenge turning for home - a couple of tired jumps sealed his fate but this was still a respectable performance.A thrilling finish saw the unpredictable Cornish Sett (12/1) pip Island Flyer (2/1f) a nose in the Badger Ales Trophy with the more fancied Nicholls runner Leading Authority a length away in third. The result of the photo finish was some time coming - many thought it would be called a dead-heat. Ardaghey (25/1) finished a distant fifth, unable to keep tabs on the leaders from the seventeenth. Creswell Ruby (8/1) looked to be found out by this step up in class. Racing prominently, she was thereabouts with three to jump but faded very badly to finsih a remote sixth.Indian Groom (4/9f) proved an expensive flop, beaten four lengths and a short-head into third. He appeared one-paced up the Sandown hill and may prefer a flat track - the jury's out on this one for the time being.